It is known heretofore that a great variety of herbicidal compounds exhibit a high herbicidal activity for weeds growing in a dry field such as Gramineae-family weeds, broad-leaf weeds, Cyperaceae-family weeds and the like to have a broad herbicidal spectrum.
Many of these herbicidal compounds, however, can be used with safety only for certain specific crops exhibiting phytotoxicity against other kinds of crops. Further, it may be the case even for the cultivated plants for which they can be assumedly used with safety that phytotoxicity is caused under extraordinary climatic conditions such as high temperatures, too much raining, overly humidity and others or in an environmental condition such as sandy soils or that phytotoxicity is caused when the herbicide has been applied in an excessive amount by error or by accident.
Accordingly, with regards to these herbicidal compounds, with an object to expand the coverage of the cultivated plants to which they can be applied with safety by controlling the phytotoxicity, proposals were made heretofore for a variety of phytotoxicity-controlling agents (Safeners). The activity of these phytotoxicity-controlling agents, however, is effective only for a specific herbicide applied to a specific cultivated plant and is not universally applicable.
For example, an effective phytotoxicity-controlling agent is benoxacor when metolachlor, which is a chloroacetamide-based compound, is used as a herbicide for Indian corns, is cyometrinil or fluxofenim when the same compound is used for sorghum, is fenchlorazole-ethyl when fenoxaprop-ethyl as an aryloxy phenoxypropionic acid-based herbicide is used for wheat and is mefenpyr-diethyl when the same herbicide is used for rye and barley [“Pesticide Outlook” December, 2001, pages 10-15].
When the cultivated plant is Liliiflorae, on the other hand, there are proposed insecticide-phytotoxicity controlling agents include dichlorophenylpyrazoline-3-carboxylic acid type compounds, dichlorophenylpyrazole carboxylic acid derivatives, triazole carboxylic acid type compounds, 5-benzyl or 5-phenyl-2-isoxazoline-3-carboxylic acid type compounds, 5,5-diphenyl-2-isoxazoline-3-carboxylic acid, 8-quinolinoxy acetic acid type compounds, (5-chloro-8-quinolinoxy)malonic acid type compounds, phenoxyacetic acid- or phenoxypropionic acid-derivatives type- or aromatic carboxylic acids type-active substances, pyrimidine type active substances, dichloroacetamide type active substances, dichloroacetone derivatives type active substances, oxyimino compounds type active substances, thiazolecarboxylic ester type active substances, naphthalenedicarboxylic acid derivatives type active substances, chromanacetic acid derivatives type active substances, active substances which, in addition to an insecticidal action against harmful plants, exhibit a phytotoxicity-controlling action in connection with crop plants, N-acylsulfonamide derivatives, acylsulfamoylbenzamide derivatives, dietholate, mephenate and the like (WO 2006/007982A).